Matt Vautour: Atlantic 10 hits its stretch run

With the Atlantic 10 pretty bunched up from No. 1-16, who a team plays down the stretch can be almost as important as how that team plays as far as determining what seeds teams will get in next month’s conference tournament.

Saint Louis has the toughest schedule left with six games against teams with a combined 42-23 record, while Charlotte has the easiest schedule with five games (three at home) against teams that are a combined 16-35.

Here’s a look at each team’s remaining schedule. Teams are listed in order of conference standing.

Saint Louis at Butler, Friday, 7 p.m. ESPNU — SLU won the first game. Rematch should be a battle.

NEW NICKNAME PLEASE: Rhode Island, Fordham, VCU — There are four Rams in Division I. Colorado State make sense given that there are actually Rams in Colorado. The fact that the other three are all in the Atlantic 10 draws attention to how poor a nickname it is.

The Ocean State university needs an ocean related nickname so I’m going with URI Humpbacks, named after the whales that are abundant off the state’s coast, or URI Schooners, for the vessels that are common in Rhode Island waters.

Richmond is the home of Virginia Commonwealth and Edgar Allen Poe. I give you the VCU Ravens.

The Bronx, Fordham’s home, is best known for its zoo and the Yankees. I’d suggest the Fordham Sultans, in reference to Babe Ruth. If you prefer zoo-affiliated mascots, it’s worth noting there are no Rams in the Bronx Zoo.

When in doubt go with alliteration. Animals that start with “F” in the Zoo are the Flamingo, which doesn’t strike fear into anyone, and the Fossa, a nasty predator from Madagascar described by Bronxzoo.com as having power and agility, two qualities Fordham basketball could use a little more of.

ON THE ROAD TO — The first ACC team not named Duke or North Carolina winning the ACC since 1993.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at @GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.